The NCAA Barely Punished Penn State – But They SEVERELY Punished Innocent Victims

Yesterday the punishment from the NCAA came down on Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky molestation case – and it was HARSH. The penalties include a $60 Million dollar fine, a four year ban on postseason play, a reduction in scholarship offers they can make (from 25-15), the vacating of all victories from 1998-2011 and a five year probationary period. But the reality is that the harshness of these penalties is not correctly measured in how it will affect the GUILTY, it should be measured on how much it greatly impacts innocent victims.

The reality of this situation is that President Graham B. Spanier, Senior Vice President‐Finance and Business Gary Schultz, Athletic Director Timothy Curley and Joe Paterno were all terrible douchebags who covered up a child being molested in order to NOT bring any shame on their football program. Paterno especially put the welfare of his program over the welfare of an innocent kid, and for that he is a sorry ass excuse for a man [whose statue SHOULD be removed]. Sandusky, the man who was actually doing the molesting, is the only DOUCHE on that campus who deserved to be punished MORE than all of those men. But here’s the interesting thing: Paterno is dead, Sandusky is behind bars, Spanier was forced to resign, Schultz left and Curley is on suspension which will probably lead to him being fired – so who is REALLY getting the brunt of this punishment?

The truth is it is the INNOCENT parties of Penn State who will be crucified for this terrible tragedy of which they knew NOTHING about. Players who committed to the school will now have to scramble to find other schools to play for and HOPE they can get the same scholarships they will lose once they leave Penn State. Although many of those players will never play in the NFL, MANY could have had football-related professions and now that will be difficult as hell.

Anyone who was BLESSED to be a part of the legendary Penn State football program between 98 and 2011 must now have their hearts ripped out because of BULLSH*T that was going on behind the scenes of which they were not cognizant of. They also must walk around social stigmatized as the term Penn State will start to equate-evil like the letters O.J.

But worst of all, the football program has been CRIPPLED which does NOT punish the guilty parties – just the children who loved and respected the institution. And at the end of the day, no matter how physically imposing these guys are, they are ultimately just FRESH off of being children. The sanctions and the stigmatization around this tragedy will effectively dismantle this program for decades – which would be apropos if the major guilty players could be equally punished. But because they can’t, this will just be a knee-jerk move that will, ironically, create MORE innocent victims as a result of trying to protect innocent victims.

This Is Your Conscience

For those of you unaware of the full magnitude of this investigation, check out this book:

When Lincoln Anthony Blades is not writing for his controversial and critically acclaimed blog ThisIsYourConscience.com, he can be found contributing articles for Uptown Magazine. Lincoln wrote the hilarious and insightful book "You're Not A Victim, You're A Volunteer: How To Stop Letting Love Kick Your Ass". He is also a public speaker who has sat on panels all over North America and the Caribbean.